Burglaries on homes in the Wycombe area are on the rise after police announced a 14 per cent rise for the year to date.

Inspector Scott Messenger, who heads the team at Marlow Police Station, said yesterday the spike in raids on houses in the Wycombe policing area for the year to date is "disappointing".

There have been 269 ‘dwelling burglaries’ reported so far this year, compared to 235 to the same point last year.

Speaking at the South West Chilterns and Marlow Local Area Forum last night, he said: "To put it into perspective, it’s less than one more a week, but it’s still disappointing.

"However, this will still be our second best year in the last 20 years, so it is not a disaster."

The rise comes after a huge reduction in house burglaries in the Marlow area last year, with crimes in the ‘beat code’ - which includes Bourne End and Wooburn Green - down by almost half on 2011/12.

Insp. Messenger said that despite the burglary increase across the Wycombe area, total crime was down by five per cent.